


Inevitable change

by haetbit4river



Category: TheEastLight. (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eunsung is a uni student, Friendship, Gen, I use korean age so a year older ok, Junwook does music, Sagang and Woojin are normal students, majoring in performing art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:06:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27207085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haetbit4river/pseuds/haetbit4river
Summary: Sagang has always known that there are inevitable changes in life, but for this one change, he thinks he will never be ready for it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Inevitable change

**Author's Note:**

> Since posting fic here requires fandom, I'll put TEL temporarily as the fandom, at least until they debut again with a new name :) I originally planned to write this as canon compliance but I just couldn't bring myself to do that lol so I hope you enjoy reading!

The sound of a notification from his phone that’s lying still on the side breaks Sagang from his studying concentration, causing him to shift in his seat at the table. It’s Friday and in three days, his class will be having a mock test for the college entrance exam that will take place in the first week of December, and he’s been studying quietly in his room for an hour now. Sagang isn’t the one who studies diligently, but he always tries his best. 

He shifts his attention from his worksheet to his phone, staring at the screen that’s just barely lit up a moment ago, contemplating whether he should check it now or just continue with his worksheet until it’s finished. There’s not much left anyway. When Sagang is about to concentrate again, the notification sound repeats again, the screen lights up with a name he knows all too well. A smile pulls on his face almost automatically at the sight of the name. Without a second thought, he effectively ditches his worksheet and eagerly picks up his phone, checking the text messages.

** From: Eunsungie hyung **

Sagang-ah

I’m sorry

I don’t think I could make it

I have a test right after that day

Sagang's smile disappears at once, feeling his heart shatter upon reading the text. He feels like someone just forcefully snatches his heart from inside his chest and then grasps it in their fist with so much pressure that it’s destroyed into pieces. He's not ready for this. He would never be ready for this. Sagang breathes in and swallows the lump in his throat, pulling himself together and starting to type back his reply, not wanting the older boy to wait for so long.

** To: Eunsungie hyung **

It’s ok!

Junwook and Woojin will be there

Don’t forget my gift though

Can I ask for an expensive gift?

Since you’re ditching my birthday party

In exactly ten days, it will be Sagang’s 19th birthday. Despite being busy with his school and study, and not to mention, the upcoming college entrance exam, Sagang wants to hold a mini birthday party to celebrate his last year of being a teen, because starting next year, he’s turning 20 years old. They, the four of them —Sagang, Eunsung, Junwook, and Woojin, have made a plan since the first week of October, and all of them agree, despite it being on the school night.

Since enrolling for a university in Seoul, majoring in Performing Arts, Eunsung has been a busy student, they all know that. He’s given his word of promise to Sagang that he would attend Sagang’s birthday party no matter what, and Sagang’s been looking forward to his birthday because it has been a while since the four of them hang out together after Eunsung entered university, and Woojin attended a different school. While Junwook, he drops out of school to focus on his music career (he’s going to take the graduation exam sometime later), and everything isn’t the same anymore. He has always known that, but it’s much harder to face it in reality. And now that Eunsung can’t make it to the party, Sagang can’t help but feels like the chance of them to hang out together again is slipping much much and much further from him.

** From: Eunsungie hyung **

Are you sure?

I’m really sorry :(

Sure, I’ll buy you an expensive gift

Just this once though

I’m broke :’)

The corners of Sagang’s mouth curl up into a small smile. Despite his aching heart and the situation, the older guy manages to make him smile. His heart unknowingly eases up a little. After exchanging a few more texts with Eunsung, Sagang puts his phone aside, finally able to focus on his worksheet again, though his mind manages to slip away and wander elsewhere that night.

_ Sagang was 7 years old and Eunsung was 9 years old when they met each other for the first time. Sagang was playing by himself in the yard of his house, digging the soil with his bare hands when a car and a huge moving truck pulled over in front of the house next to his own. Ears perked up at the sound of the gate of the house is opened, Sagang craned up his neck and turned his head toward the house's direction, eyes catching the sight of people passing by between the narrow slit of the wall that separated their houses. Hurriedly, he went over and climbed up the wall, trying to get a better look at his possibly-new-neighbours. Once Sagang was up, he managed to see a middle-aged couple, a teen boy, and a boy who looked a little older than himself.  _

_ "Hello!" Sagang greeted politely in a bright, loud voice, earning attention from the four of them. He smiled widely when they turned to him.  _

_ "Oh, hello there, child," the middle-aged lady replied, smiling at him softly in return. _

_ "Are you our new neighbors?" Sagang asked curiously, blinking his eyes innocently like a child he was. _

_ "Yes, my dear. We're your new neighbors." _

_ Sagang's eyes widened in excitement, grinning from ear to ear, displaying his teeth which were missing two front teeth. His eyes shifted to the boy standing sheepishly behind the middle-aged lady, who was locking eyes with him.  _

_ "Great. Mom! I'm getting a new friend!" he shouted enthusiastically as he climbed down from the wall, and sprinted out of the house to greet his new friend without even caring to clean up himself from the soil dirt. _

_ Sagang found that Eunsung wasn't easy to befriend at first. Their personalities were on opposite sides of the spectrum. While Sagang was outgoing and active, Eunsung was quieter and reserved, not to mention he was shy around new people. In their early friendship, Eunsung kept pushing him away, but Sagang never gave up. He had taken into liking the older boy the moment he laid his eyes on him and determined to be closer with Eunsung. Eventually, they grew closer and their friendship progressed tremendously that they became attached to the hips, becoming the inseparable duo. _

“Stop moping.” 

A soft voice startles Sagang from his train of thought, averting his gaze away from staring out the window and looking up to meet eyes with his other best friend, Junwook, who’s wearing a matching uniform with the other workers in the cafe, standing by his table and holding a small tray in his hand with a glass of iced caramel macchiato on it. Placing the drink on the table and sliding it toward Sagang, Junwook takes a seat opposite the boy. The lack of customers at this hour allows him to rest for a bit.

Sagang frowns. “I’m not moping,” he says, voice sounding a tiny wee bit more defensive than he intends to.

Junwook snickers in amusement. “You  _ are _ moping. This is about Eunsung hyung, right?” he asks, raising his brows questioningly.

Sagang doesn’t answer as he takes a sip of his caramel macchiato and throws his gaze outside the window again. It’s only six o’clock in the evening, yet the sun is already starting to set slowly, the orange hue sky is darkened. The street lamps begin to light up all at once. The number of people on the street is increasing every minute as office hours just end. In half an hour, a large number of customers would come flooding into the cafe. 

A soft giggle escapes Junwook’s mouth, still amused by Sagang’s reaction.

“He did tell you he’s coming back on 31st October, right? It’s Halloween. We can hang out then,” Junwook says.

Sagang lets out a dejected sigh, shifting his gaze back to Junwook who’s still looking at him with a small smile. “This is like the fourth time he broke his promise with us, Junwook. Not one, not two, not three, but four times,” he mumbles frustratingly, emphasizing the last sentence.

“You have to understand, Sagang. Eunsung hyung is a university student now. A second year. Not a high school student like you or Woojin anymore, or a school drop-out who works part-time like me—” 

“Why do you make yourself sound so sad?” Sagang narrows his eyes at Junwook and then rolls his eyes. “You’re a  _ freaking _ composer whose debut song is charting the music charts. Give yourself some credits.”

Junwook glares at him for, first, partially for cutting his words, second, for playing around when he’s serious. He presses his lips into a thin line. He’s not angry, he’s just annoyed, and Sagang knows.

“Which is not the point,” Sagang adds quickly. “I’m just saying.” He shrugs, deliberately ignoring the sharp gaze Junwook is giving him at the moment. “Go on.” He waves a hand dismissively, sliding his glass of caramel macchiato closer to himself and starting to drink it. 

“In short, Eunsung hyung is busier than ever, so you can’t expect him to have free time whenever he wants like us,” Junwook finishes, eyes fixating at Sagang.

Sagang stares down at the table, finger unconsciously beginning to draw some random patterns on the cold, condensed glass of his drink. The iced caramel macchiato is half empty now. “But, it’s my 19th birthday. I will never turn 19 ever again. I want him to be there. He was always there on my birthday for the last 12 years. It feels strange knowing that he won’t be there this year.”

Junwook doesn’t say anything else as silence falls between them. The background noises slowly fill the atmosphere. Hearing his name being called by his coworker, Junwook spares a glance at Sagang and gives a pat on his shoulder before he gets up and leaves Sagang by himself. Sagang’s mind reels back to the day he met Junwook for the first time.

_ It was the first week of the 5th grade when Junwook transferred to his elementary school. He was so soft-spoken that everyone could barely hear him when he introduced himself at the front, but the teacher didn't ask him to repeat, instead, he was told to take the empty seat next to Sagang. Sagang's deskmate just transferred to another school the previous year. Junwook's personality was entirely different from Sagang, pretty much like Eunsung, but they weren’t exactly the same either. _

_ “I’m Sagang,” Sagang said with a huge grin on his face, holding out a hand for a handshake. _

_ Junwook’s eyes flickered down to Sagang’s hand momentarily before reaching his hand out and shaking them. “I’m Jun—” _

_ “Junwook. I know! I heard you.” Sagang’s eyes were bright. “Do you want to eat lunch together later?” _

_ Gawking at Sagang for a few seconds, Junwook nodded, agreed. Unknowingly, they began to hang out together at school and quickly became close after that. Sagang learned that Junwook’s house was only three houses away from his own when Sagang invited Junwook to hang out at his house on the weekend, to which the latter excitedly agreed. They were in the middle of playing games in the living room when Eunsung came barging in through the door unannounced like he usually did.  _

_ “Who’s this?” Eunsung asked as soon as he flopped down on the couch, staring curiously at Junwook who was sitting on the floor next to Sagang, holding a game controller in his hands.  _

_ Eyes fixating at the huge screen and focusing solely on the game, Sagang lazily replied, “Junwook. He’s my deskmate. His house is nearby.” _

_ “Oh, really?” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ Briefly turning his head, Junwook took a quick look at Eunsung as the older boy raised a hand and smiled, eyes crinkling into half-moon shapes. “I’m Eunsung. I lived next door. You can call me hyung.” _

_ Junwook gave a polite smile in return and then attempted to pass the controller to Eunsung in case he wanted to play. _

_ Immediately, Eunsung waved his hand, reaching for a jelly pack among the snacks that were piled up on the coffee table next to him. “No. You play. I’ve had enough playing with him, so it’s really nice having you here.” _

_ Pausing the game, Sagang swiftly turned to face Eunsung, scowling sourly and glaring sharply at the older boy. He was clearly offended. “Just say you’re tired of me and go.” _

_ “Exactly,” Eunsung says nonchalantly, throwing a jelly into his mouth. “It’d be like that sometimes.” _

_ Sagang let out a loud, annoyed groan and the next thing Junwook knew, Sagang and Eunsung were physically fighting on the couch. Eyes widened and mouth gaped, Junwook stared at them in shock. He had to run and get Sagang’s mother to stop them. They eventually stopped when they were yelled at by his mother, both getting their hair messy and a few small scratches here and there on their faces and bodies. Sagang was on the verge of crying, and Eunsung was just annoyed by the whole ordeal. _

_ Junwook was sent home after that. The next day when he went to hang at Sagang’s house (Sagang invited him again to play board games), Eunsung and Sagang were sticking to each other, glued together all the time, as if the fight that they had the day before never existed. It amused Junwook so much that he kept on looking at them. Since then, it was always the three of them, until Woojin and his family moved into the house next to Eunsung’s nearly a year later. Three of them naturally adopted Woojin into their group of friends, just because they found him really cute. _

On Sunday, a day before Sagang’s birthday party takes place, Sagang, Woojin, and Junwook have collectively agreed to do some shopping for the stuff they need for the party. Their plan is to set up a huge screen at Sagang’s house’s yard (Junwook is borrowing a projector from his father) and do some decorations around the yard. It has been their tradition to have a movie night and snuggle among themselves on their birthday, but for Sagang’s this time, the scale is a little bigger.

The supermarket is a little noisy and far from being crowded when Sagang and Woojin stroll inside, pushing a trolley. Junwook can’t make it as he’s called to work at the last minute to cover some shifts for his sick co-worker. He apologizes to Sagang and promises to make it up to him. Woojin tells him to not worry and says that the two of them would manage just fine.

As they make their way to the snacks aisle, Sagang slowly immerses in his own thoughts. Since the past week, he has been doing some serious thinking, particularly after briefly meeting with Junwook at the cafe the latter is working at. Out of three of them, Sagang is the closest to Eunsung. Both of them seem to have a little more connection with each other, and Junwook and Woojin have always known that. 

For the past 12 years, Eunsung was always there with him on his birthday, even the year before when the older boy was barely home during his first year of being a university student. Sagang naturally thinks that Eunsung would present to celebrate his 19th birthday, because that’s how it’s been, but apparently not. Can’t say he’s not disappointed, he is, and he feels strange about Eunsung not being there. Maybe he’s been selfish all along. Maybe he needs to grow up because Eunsung can’t be there by his side forever.

“Woojin. Do you think I’m selfish?” Sagang asks all of sudden, making Woojin stop his hand from reaching for more snacks on the shelf. They have stopped at the snacks aisle for a while now.

“For?” Woojin turns to Sagang with raised brows.

“For wanting Eunsung hyung to be there on my birthday no matter what. Not that I don’t understand that he’s busy. It’s just...” Sagang’s voice trails off. He sighs. “I couldn’t shake off that thought.”

There’s a silence before Woojin speaks, "Honestly, I don't know, hyung. I feel like everything has begun to change drastically for the last two years, and it scares me so much. You probably feel the same way too, that's why you're upset. I would too. It's hard to accept changes, but it is bound to happen sooner or later, whether we want it or not."

Sagang doesn’t say anything after that, pressing his lips into a thin line. What Woojin says is right, he knows that. But the reality is much harder for him to face.

"Hyung. Despite almost everything rapidly changing around us, there's one thing I'm confident that will never change." Woojin smiles softly as Sagang anticipates. "Our friendship."

The rest of their shoppings goes like a blur, and they nearly spend 30k won for the snacks alone, not including the decorations for the party and Halloween.

It's been an eventful Sunday. After shopping for almost two hours at the supermarket, Sagang and Woojin think it's a good idea to annoy Junwook at his workplace. However, their intention comes to a halt upon reaching the cafe. Since it's the weekend, there are a lot of customers lining up at the counter. Both of them just decide to buy drinks for themselves instead, while waiting for Junwook to finish his work shift. They walk home together after that.

Sagang yawns tiredly, using his backhand to cover his wide-open mouth. He stares blankly at the math homework that he has worked on halfway on the table, trying to stay awake by blinking his eyes. Feeling like he no longer has the will to do his homework, Sagang rises from his chair and moves to his bed, gripping his phone in his hand. He lies flat on his back and brings his phone into his peripheral view. Only now he realizes that it’s 5 minutes to the clock hitting 12am; 5 minutes to his birthday. He’s so immersed in doing his homework that he doesn’t realize it’s nearing midnight now.

When the clock hits 12, his phone is immediately flooded with text messages congratulating him for his birthday. Sagang smiles brightly as he reads their messages, replying to each of them with a grateful thank. Before falling asleep, Sagang excitedly anticipates a birthday wish from a certain person, but it never comes.

Sad is an understatement, Sagang is  _ heartbroken _ . 

The first thing he looks for when his eyes are snapped open is his phone, and immediately checks for a birthday wish from the person he’s been waiting for. His excited and giddy smile fades at once when he finds none. Sagang stares at the last message he sent to Eunsung, which is exactly three days ago. He can hear his own heart shatter into pieces. It hurts so much. His eyes are warm, unknowingly starting to well up in tears.

Sagang sits at the edge of his bed, shoulders visibly slump, eyes sorrowfully staring at his and Eunsung’s chat room, somehow hoping that a birthday wish, even if it’s only a  _ ‘Happy Birthday’ _ , from Eunsung would miraculously appear if he stares hard enough. 

But, nothing.

Tossing his phone away, Sagang rises from the bed and gets ready for school. Throughout the day, he keeps thinking when exactly did things go wrong, what exactly went wrong. _ Is it him? Is it Eunsung? Is it the circumstance? _ He keeps thinking about it till his head hurts. He can’t help it. Eunsung has never missed it: wishing his birthday. Even when he had an important event at university in the previous year, Eunsung didn’t miss it. Even when he had a graduation exam two years before, Eunsung didn’t miss it.

Woojin’s voice echoes in his ears:  _ “There's one thing I'm confident that will never change. Our friendship." _

Maybe it’s changing after all, and it breaks his heart even more. Even when the night has come, Sagang is still waiting, still holding on to a sliver of hope. 

The setup and decoration for the mini party are perfect. Three of them, with the help of Sagang’s older sister, manage to finish everything before dark. A huge white screen is set in Eunsung’s house’s direction, four bean bags are placed in front of the screen with the projector in the middle, piles of snacks everywhere around the bean bag, fairy lights hanging in the air along with a few Halloween decorations.

Sagang’s eyes catch the sight of the fourth bean bag. “Why is there an extra?” he asks curiously, pointing at it.

Woojin and Junwook stop whatever they’re doing and briefly look at each other before turning to Sagang. 

“Your sister said she’s going to join for a bit,” Junwook says, blinking his eyes a few times. He seems a little awkward.

Woojin eagerly nods. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Sagang stares weirdly at them, wondering what’s up with the two of them, but he doesn’t say anything, shrugging it off. They’re about to begin the movie when Woojin and Junwook stand in front of him.

“We have something for you,” Junwook says, grinning from ear to ear.

“A gift,” Woojin adds, smiling brightly.

Is this why they were awkward before? “Okay, what is it?” Sagang asks, slightly anticipating in excitement. He’s told to put on a blindfold, which he protests at first, but eventually complies after explaining their reasoning for it.

Sagang sits still on the bean bag with his eyes covered, quietly anticipating. Then, there’s a rustling sound, as if something is being moved. It gets louder and louder in his ears, and he wonders for a brief moment if it’s something bigger than he thinks. He hears whispers, but not clear enough for him to make out whatever his friends are saying, and then comes the silence.

“Guys?” Sagang calls hesitantly as there’s no further instruction. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“Just a second,” Woojin drawls, “Ok hyung. You can stand up and take off the blindfold.”

So, Sagang does, and, “Wow,” escapes his mouth, eyes growing in surprise at the sight in front of him. There’s a huge box, so huge that it's almost as tall as him. He gawks at it momentarily before turning to his two friends, who are standing a little far from him. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s called a surprise for a reason, dummy,” Junwook tells him, gesturing to the box, “Open it.”

With a nervous thumping heart, Sagang excitedly reaches for the huge ribbon on the top of the box and unties it, mouth stretching into a bright grin in anticipation. He only manages to unfold the first layer when the box slightly moves, and then something pops out through the opening, making him jump to his feet.

A sharp breath is drawn by Sagang.

“What in the world... _ EUNSUNG HYUNG? _ ” he shouts the name in shock, mouth gapes open seeing the figure before his eyes. He stumbles a few steps backward, couldn’t believe what his eyes are seeing at the moment. “ _ WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? _ ”

“Woohoo!” Woojin’s cheering voice snaps Sagang out of his shock, making him realize that he and Eunsung aren’t the only ones there. Sagang turns his head to the side only to see Woojin and Junwook are smiling and giggling like idiots. Yeah, they deserve that, Sagang thinks. He then shifts his attention to Eunsung, who is still in the box and having an annoying smile on his face.

“Happy birthday, Sagang,” Eunsung says, eyes crinkling into crescents, lips pulling into a soft smile.

Sagang lets out a choked laugh. The heavy feeling he had in his chest all day long disappears at once, feeling warm tears welling up in his eyes, and he can barely hold himself together. “Who am I blaming?” His voice is breaking, and Eunsung’s expression changes slightly.

The eye contact they’re having hasn’t broken and they’re still staring into each other’s eyes.

“Eunsung hyung! He’s the mastermind!” 

Sagang licks his lips and swallows. And then, comes his breaking point. “I was so heartbroken, hyung. You’ve never missed, not even once, wishing me my birthday, and suddenly this year there’s none, I thought you forgot. I thought I’m about to lose my favourite hyung.” His tears are now flowing down like a waterfall and Sagang doesn’t care if he’s ugly crying on his birthday. “Please don’t do this again, uh, hyung?” he pleads, burying his face into his palms and sobbing even more.

The next thing Sagang knows, a pair of warm arms engulf him in an embrace, rubbing his back softly, and then, he hears, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about your feelings at all and that’s my fault. I promise I won’t do anything like this again.”

Woojin and Junwook join them, feeling bad about the whole situation. “We’re sorry, too.” 

It takes Sagang a while to calm down. After catching up with Eunsung, they proceed with their birthday tradition and begin to watch the movie. To compensate for Sagang’s emotional damage (Sagang said that himself), Eunsung has promised to buy an expensive gift for him and lets Sagang choose it, even if it’s out of his budget, and Sagang gladly agrees.

_ "There's one thing I'm confident that will never change. Our friendship." _

Maybe Woojin is right after all.

**Author's Note:**

> When the prank gone wrong 🤣
> 
> Hope you've enjoyed! Please leave me kudos and comments (even if you're not logged in, you can still leave kudos and comments)! I'd appreciate it so much.


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